PHHS Summer Reading and Assignment Program

Summer Assignments 2015 Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Schools

2015

1 Summer Assignments 2015 Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Schools

Introduction to Summer Reading and Assignments

Grades 9-12

The titles on the following pages have been selected as required summer assignments in the designated courses. The selections were made based on the curriculum for these courses. Some reading assignments present mature subject matter and have been so identified in the annotation. Parents are encouraged to read these selections along with their child or prior to their child's reading the book. Parents who have any questions or concerns about summer assignments should contact one of the administrators listed below.

For reading assignments, students may choose to borrow the books at the public library or to purchase the books for themselves. If students are unable to locate the required books, they should call the principal who will assist them in acquiring them.

When students return to school in September, they will be asked to participate in activities based on the summer reading. One of the most important goals of the summer assignment program is to engage students in activities that will prepare them for upcoming curriculum in the new school year. To this end, students should complete the assignments carefully and reflect on what they are doing so that they are well positioned to reap the most benefit from their educational program.

Dr. Nancy A. Gigante, Assistant Superintendent/ [email protected] Chief Academic Officer 973-263-7180 x7340

Mrs. Vicky Santana , Coordinating Supervisor of [email protected] Social Studies/World Languages 973-263-7180 x7172

Mrs. Jennifer Frantz, Coordinating Supervisor of [email protected] Language Arts/6-12 ESL 973-263-7180 x7194

Ms. Cathy Jo Speidel, Coordinator of Science [email protected] Instruction/Business/FCS/Ind. Arts 973-263-7180 x7247

Mrs. Pamela Freund, Coordinator of Math/Art/ Music [email protected] 973-263-7180 x7006

Summer Assignments 2015 Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Schools

Grades 9-12

Science

Students will participate in instructional activities that give them the opportunity to practice and enhance their skills in scientific reading, critical thinking & analytical reasoning. These activities will also offer the opportunity to develop their ability to apply their scientific knowledge and skills to new situations.

Science Summer assignments are currently only for high school students taking either Honors or Advanced Placement courses. Specific instructions for each course can be located by clicking on the link below for the high school where the instruction will occur. Once on the school website, click on the name(s) of courses being taken to receive details of the assignment.

For Parsippany Hills High School (PHHS) Science courses:

Parsippany Hills High School Science Summer Assignments

Summer Assignments 2015 Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Schools

Grade 9

English I Honors

Ford, Jamie. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Ballantine Books, 2009. ISBN# 9780345505347

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet takes you on a journey through Henry’s struggle as a Chinese-American living through conflicting times of World War II. By facing the conflicts of racial oppression as an Asian-American at this time and taking a risk dating a Japanese woman, Henry inadvertently discovers his Chinese culture, what it means to be American, and his role as a son, husband, and father.

Grade 9

English I and English I Replacement

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak. Penguin Group, 1999. ISBN# 9780312674397

Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, so her old friends won’t talk to her, and the people she doesn’t know hate her from a distance. It’s no use explaining to her parents; they’ve never known what her life is really like. The safest place for Melinda to be is alone, inside her own head. But even that’s not safe. Because there is something she’s trying not to think about, something about the night of the party, that, if she admitted it and let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens. And then she would have no choice. Melinda would have to speak the truth.

Summer Assignments 2015 Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Schools

Grade 9

World History Honors

Crichton, Michael. Timeline. Knopf/Ballantine Books, 1999. ISBN# 0-345-41762-3

Timeline deals with time travel coupled with the study of the Middle Ages in Europe, an introductory unit in Grade 9 Honors World History. In a series of seemingly unrelated events, historians and archeologists who are excavating a medieval city in France find a note dated 4/7/1357 that was written by one of the current members of their team. What unfolds is a suspenseful journey taken by these historians back to the Middle Ages to help one of their own. The historians discover that the stories about the Middle Ages are in fact true and the horrors become more real as they try to uncover a secret and return back to their present day lives. Their biggest obstacles are a renegade knight who will not let them go that easily, and a return deadline to meet. The book presents a vivid picture of life in Europe during the Middle Ages.

Summer Assignments 2015 Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Schools

Grade 10

English II and Replacement English II

Dumas, Firoozeh. Funny in Farsi. Random House, 2004. ISBN# 0812968379

Funny in Farsi is an award-winning memoir of an Iranian-American woman and her eclectic family. The stories she shares are little memories revealing her immigrant “Americanization.” Each chapter reads like its own personal narrative, and the reader grows to appreciate her strange family members as humorous characters on their own cultural odyssey. Ms. Dumas shares her personal and inspirational definition of what it means to be an American.

English II Honors

Potok, Chaim. The Chosen. Fawcett Books, 1967. ISBN# 0-449-21344-7

This best-selling 1967 novel by Rabbi Chaim Potok traces the friendship of two adolescent Jewish boys in 1940’s Brooklyn. As one boy is Orthodox and the other Hasidic, an interesting conflict evolves between them concerning the meaning of life, suffering, and love. This conflict reaches a heart-wrenching climax as the details of the Holocaust are revealed to the world at the close of World War II. The English II Honors course of study requires students to experience and respond to the influences of various cultures on thought, language, and literature, and Potok's novel The Chosen lends itself to this endeavor. Classroom activities will build on English I Honors instruction on using textual evidence to support a position and identifying the elements of a novel including figurative language and sensory images.

McBride, James. The Color of Water. Riverhead Books. 1997. ISBN# 1-573-22578-9

The Color of Water is a Black man’s tribute to his White mother. This memoir is of McBride’s childhood and the telling of his mother’s story in her own words. McBride’s novel is a meditation on race and identity. He has written a portrait of growing up using her narrative. The Color of Water provides an opportunity for students to analyze the nature of 20th century contemporary American literature. Students' previous study of To Kill a Mockingbird prepares them for the racial issues that are present in The Color of Water.

Summer Assignments 2015 Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Schools

Grade 10

United States History I

Students are required to read one of the following:

McCullough, David. 1776. Simon & Schuster, 2005. ISBN# 0-7432-2671-2

The story chronicles the events that occurred during the year of 1776. The text begins with the colonies in rebellion over the laws imposed by Britain. McCullough engages the reader in the intense drama of the war; he describes the incredible variety of Americans who fought in the war, what they endured and how they gave everything of themselves for a cause. As the military pressure increases for the colonials, the story explains in explicit detail how the political ties are severed with Britain in the writing and the signing of the Declaration of Independence. A major focus in the story is the unswerving devotion of these troops to their leader George Washington. Each battle of 1776 is recounted through the actual words of these citizen soldiers as read from their diaries or personal letter. Hence, the reader is drawn into the crucial events and feels very much a part of the Continental army’s pain and loss.

Students study the events that lead up to the American Revolution and the key battles of the war. The importance of George Washington is significant to the study of US I as a key figure in the Continental Congress, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the creation of the Constitution. The development of the new country is largely formed by the precedents set by Washington’s leadership as the founding father and first president of our nation.

Philbrick, Nathaniel. The Mayflower and the Pilgrim’s New World, Puffin; Reprint edition 2009. ISBN# 978-0142414583

Abridged and adapted from Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War (Penguin, 2007), this volume highlights both the Pilgrims' determination to find and settle a home where they could worship freely and the perilous journey that it took to make that happen.

After a dangerous journey across the Atlantic, the Mayflower’s passengers were saved from certain destruction with the help of the Natives of the Plymouth region. For fifty years a fragile peace was maintained as Pilgrims and Native Americans learned to work together. But when that trust was broken by the next generation of leaders, a conflict erupted that nearly wiped out Pilgrims and Natives alike. Adapted from the New York Times bestseller Mayflower, this edition includes additional maps, artwork, and archival photos. (Description taken from Amazon.com)

Summer Assignments 2015 Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Schools

Grade 10

United States History I – Pre-Advanced Placement

Philbrick, Nathaniel. Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War. Penguin Books, 2006. ISBN # 978-0-14-311197-9

This book tells the story of the Pilgrims. It begins in England and Holland with their decision to settle in the New World. It describes the journey of the Mayflower and the troubles faced by the settlers as they faced an unknown future in New England. The first half of the book continues with an assessment of the tenuous relationship between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans. The author analyzes the cross-cultural exchange and the need of each group for the other. Philbrick discusses how fear and distrust could lead to violence and how need and tentative alliances could lead to camaraderie. The second half of the book focuses on the second generation of Pilgrims and the Native Americans. Relationships changed as more white settlers poured into the New England region. The whites did not need the natives as desperately as they once did and the whites were now the more powerful group. This shift leads to more violence including the Pequot War and culminates in King Philip’s War. At this war’s end, the Native American population of New England is virtually wiped out.

Summer Assignments 2015 Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Schools

Grade 11

College English III, **Basic College English III and **Basic College English III Replacement

Haddon, Mark. The Curious Incident of a Dog in the Night-Time. Doubleday, 2003. ISBN# 0-385-51210-4

As the novel opens, Christopher discovers that Wellington, his neighbor’s dog, has been mysteriously killed in the middle of the night. With this discovery, Christopher sets out to solve the mystery, writing this novel (with the help of his teacher) along the way. His subsequent investigation finally leads to an unexpected and surprising answer. Mark Haddon has done a remarkable job of providing insight into the mind of a boy who, although never formally diagnosed within the book, deals with challenges due to symptoms of Asperger Syndrome. The changing world requires students to be both compassionate and open minded toward people with differing abilities and behaviors, and the insight provided in this novel will be effective in bolstering these sentiments. Students will study point of view, characterization, and syntax in the study of this novel.

** THESE COURSES ARE REQUIRED TO READ ONLY THE FIRST 21 PAGES

English III Honors

Hardy, Thomas. Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Everyman, 1991. ISBN# 0-460-87344-X

Young Tess Durbeyfield discovers she is a descendant of the D'Urberville family and so her journey begins. Attempting to advance through the bonds of gender and social barricades, Tess endures many hardships that come with being a woman. Her relationships with men in the upper class reflect her doomed fate as she struggles to fit in. The complex story provides a unique female protagonist that students will be able to refer to throughout the year. The English III Honors course of study requires students to experience and respond to the influences of various cultures on thought, language, and literature, and Hardy's novel, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, lends itself to this endeavor.

Grade 11

Summer Assignments 2015 Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Schools

U.S. History II

Shaw, George B. Pygmalion. Barnes & Noble Classics, 2004 ISBN# 978159308-0785

A chance encounter between a professor and a poor girl selling flowers begins a play that underscores the rigid boundaries of English class distinctions. Goaded by a colleague's taunt that he cannot transform the girl's speech and manners to fit in with society's upper crust, the professor undertakes the project. Based on a Greek legend, the play not only demonstrates the part that myths play in British literature, but also provides a scathing view of the rigidity of the Victorian class system. The English III Honors course of study requires students to experience and respond to the influences of various cultures on thought, language, and literature, and Shaw's play, Pygmalion, lends itself to this endeavor. Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle. Barnes and Noble Classics, 2003. ISBN# 1-593-08008-5

The Jungle is considered a classic example of muckraking in American literature. The novel is a primary source written by a significant "muckraker" at the turn of the last century in an attempt to expose the underside of the American dream. The novel follows the lives of the members of an immigrant family from Lithuania, as they seek to resettle in America by finding employment in the meatpacking industry in Chicago at the turn of the last century. The book was originally written in 1906 as an exposé, and presents the filthy conditions in the meatpacking industry and the horrible conditions its workers faced on a daily basis. It addresses the muckraking movement and issues of discrimination and social justice that are addressed in the US History II curriculum.

United States History II – Advanced Placement

Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle. Barnes and Noble Classics, 2003. ISBN# 1-593-08008-5

Grade 11

Civics & Government

Summer Assignments 2015 Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Schools

Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed. Holt Paperbacks, 2002. ISBN #0-805063897

In Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich tells the story of her life over the course of several months as she willingly “gave up” her life as a well-to-do journalist and moved around the country looking for work as an unskilled, undereducated American. In three chapters, Ehrenreich identifies her struggles in three different states as she tries to get basic work, pass entry-level tests, and then survive on the pay given and the insurance covered by these jobs. Ehrenreich also writes about her co-workers and their struggles in this ground level examination of the life of the working poor in America today.

A significant part of the Civics curriculum includes a study of the making and implementation of social policy on the federal and state levels. There is also a constitutional connection concerning the proper role of the federal government, the creation of a welfare state, and the benefits and detriments of a capitalist society. In her travels, Ehrenreich discusses health insurance plans offered by the companies that hire her as well as her attempts to get food while working at or near the federal poverty level. These events relate to our study of the creation of the federal poverty line, the formulas used in its development and its index to inflation. They also directly relate to state and federal programs available for low- income working class people, including Schip, WIC and food stamps.

Summer Assignments 2015 Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Schools

Grade 12

College English IV

Coelho, Paulo. The Alchemist. Harper Collins, 1998. ISBN# 978-0-06083483-8

The Alchemist is an allegory that tells the story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd who, after dreaming of treasure within the pyramids of Egypt, embarks on a quest to fulfill the outcome of his dream. Santiago encounters several road bumps along the way and must use his intuition and connections with those he meets to find a way to fulfill his Personal Legend. The story is simple but thought- provoking, filled with metaphors and symbolism. This allegory integrates many diverse philosophies and ideas from a myriad of faiths and historical periods; many of these ideas concern the pursuit of truth, one’s intended destiny and the attainment of happiness.

The study of the novel supports the College English 4 unit study of the quest archetype. Students will make connections between Santiago’s journey and those of Gilgamesh and Siddhartha in the required readings.

Basic College English IV and Replacement Basic College English IV

(Students are required to read TWO essays of their choice from this book)

Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: Story of Success. Little, Brown, & Company, 2011. ISBN# 978-0-316017930

Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"--the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: Why do some people achieve so much more than others? Can they lie so far outside the ordinary? What is the secret of their success?

His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band.

*Most essays are available on The New Yorker website, so it is not necessary for students to purchase the book.

Summer Assignments 2015 Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Schools

GRADE 12 English IV - Advanced Placement

Camus, Albert. The Stranger. New York: Vintage Books, 1989.

Depicting the author’s sense of life’s absurdity, the main character, Meursault, murders an Arab stranger during a day at the beach. The Advanced Placement course of study requires students to demonstrate skills in advanced forms of written discourse, and the study of this novel affords them the opportunity to apply skills assessed on the written component of the Advanced Placement exam.

Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. Constance Garnett, translator. Bantam Classics Reissue edition (July 1, 1984).

Raskolnikov, a student in St. Petersburg, plans what he thinks to be the perfect crime. The murder of a morally despicable old woman seems to him to be a justifiable crime because he interprets her death to be beneficial to the society in which they exist. The 19th Century novel is a study of human psychology, murder, morality and human relationships. Crime and Punishment reinforces the course’s emphasis on relating a given work to its historical time period as well as to the theme of “Consequence of Choice” studied during the year.

Summer Assignments 2015 Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Schools

Grade 12

European History – Advanced Placement

Gaarder, Jostein. Sophie’s World. New York: Berkley Books, 1996. ISBN# 0-425-15225-1

Sophie's World creates a fictional world around a young woman who explores the "big questions" of life by analyzing the major works of Western philosophy. It reads like a mystery suspense novel as Sophie attempts to find out who her secret tutor is and how her learning is reflected in her life. The explanations of the philosophers' views are clear and illustrate for the reader why these perspectives are so important in Western thought. The philosophies presented in the book form the underpinnings of Western ideology, which is a key focus of the AP European History curriculum.

Civics & Government

Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed. Holt Paperbacks, 2002. ISBN #0-805063897

Summer Assignments 2015 Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Schools

Grade 12

Government & Politics – Advanced Placement

Kovach, Bill and Rosenstiel, Tom. The Elements of Journalism. Three Rivers Press, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-307-34670-4

The Elements of Journalism delineates the core principles shared by journalists across media, even across cultures. These principles flow from the essential function news plays in people’s lives. This new edition, published April 2007, is completely updated and revised and includes a new 10th principle—the rights and responsibilities of citizens—flowing from new power conveyed by technology to the citizen as a consumer and editor of their own news and information.

Media is one of the larger units in the AP Governments and Politics curriculum. The course analyzes the media’s power, role, regulatory laws, ability to influence opinion, use by public officials, and purpose in an election period. This book will also assist the students in interpreting various sources of journalism, their objectives, and the tools they use to reach their goals.

Summer Assignments 2015 Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Schools

Grade 10-12

AP Studio Art

Students will be given a sketchbook assignment to research 2 different forms of inspiration. One must be based on technique and one must be based on concept. They must include examples of inspiration and a certain amount of exploration inspired by this. It will help the students to develop the Concentration portion of the AP Studio Exam. The student will conference with the teacher at the beginning of the year to present their exploration and the student will receive a project grade for his/her work.